Journey To Nomazi
by H.S. Law
Summary: Lumina, a nomadic gypsy, comes across an odd deck of tarot cards known as The Cursed Black Hole while stationed on the rainy planet Montressor. Lum and Jim together find the secret hidden inside the cards while enrolled in the Interstellar Academy. While she investigates the cards, she finds that they have the ability to guide the beholder on a journey to the gypsy world of Nomazi.
1. Chapter 1: Tarots

Journey To Nomazi

H.S. Law

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello, everyone! Harmony here. Finally finished the first chapter of Nomazi! First off, I'm aware that the switching of perspectives is a bit annoying. This will change in chapter 3 when Lum and Jim meet up. I'm working on some artwork for this fic along with other Treasure Planet ones on deviantart under HarmonyGirl11. Please check it out! Anyway, hope you enjoy and I will upload another chapter soon! Be sure to review!**

Chapter 1: Tarots

Jim awoke in a daze. His vision was a blur and all he could see was the grayness of the cloudy sky above him. Sitting up, Jim rubbed his eyes and shook his head trying to clear his vision. After a few seconds, his eyes came to focus and he realized he was alone in the middle of nowhere.

. . .

Lumina was walking briskly through the bustling market with her faded green floppy hat low on her face covering her hazel eyes. After she made ten drubloons with her dancing, Lumina could manage to afford some new cards. This was what she was going to attempt to do. She nudged her way through the crowd of aliens looking down the whole time for she was trying to keep a low profile.

. . .

Jim slowly stood up and massaged the agonizing pain in his head as if that would make it go away. Rising to his feet caused his ears to ring and he became very dizzy. Jim turned and looked at the canyon he had somehow gotten himself into and brushed the dry dirt off his clothes. He sighed and glanced down noticing his solar surfer had split in two halves.

. . .

Lumina turned a corner, keeping her hurried pace down a narrow street. Her leather ankle boots clumped when her tall heels hit the stone ground. The eight gold coins that were strung around her hips jingled with each step. As the narrow street ended, it opened to a small square in the destitute part of town. Not many people tend to care (or notice in Lumina's case) who you are in this part. That's why she lingered around here when she wasn't roaming the galaxy with a band of unwashed gypsies in her solar caravan. Lumina would still pull her wavy golden hair close around her face just in case the police were around.

Unfortunately, her hair was the giveaway to her identity. In the sunlight, her large, golden hair would give off a strawberry, rosy pink tint and her eyes would glow a bright hazel. Nothing too extreme, of course, but not many aliens on Montressor obtain such a strawberry color or have such saturation to their eyes. Thankfully, it was cloudy that day.

Lumina nudged a goat out of the way and stepped inside the concealed magic shop in the corner of the area. She had memorized the whole store from the marbles to the ouija boards. She also knew every crack in the wall as the place was in horrible shape. The wooden walls were burnt in some places from when the police had discovered it contained dark maigic years ago. The roof had a huge hole in it with a tin bucket below collecting the water droplets from a previous storm, and Lumina could've sworn the shop was tilted on its left side. Standing outside, you would think the place was out of business for it had no signs of identification. But Lumina and the other gypsies knew better.

. . .

Jim wondered how he going to get out of this mess. He remembered he went out for a short flight wanting to have some fun and maybe break some rules before he headed off to the academy. Somehow, he obviously got into a crash that caused his solar surfer to break in two. He squeezed his eyes shut trying to remember what happened but had no luck. He sat on the rock behind him cupping his face in his hands.

This was really going to be a pain to fix. No, it was _unfixable_. The board was in pieces! He groaned but figured he wouldn't need it in the academy anyway. But how was he going to get back home? The only way he could think of was wait for the police to find him and bring him back to his worried mother. Jim had promised he wouldn't do this again! Why did he have to get caught now? He rubbed his temples and waited for the sirens. He probably broke many violations including moving violation nine-zero-four, section fifteen, paragraph… six? Yes, definitely six.

Jim thought about what would happen when he got back home. Would his mother never trust him again? Would the police ban him from solar surfing? Or worse, this would probably go on his permanent record, and maybe prevent him from being able to enter the academy. Well, he _had_ done this many times already, so if trespassing was looked down upon to the point of no entry, he would've been screwed by now. Then his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of sirens and it made his instincts of running start to kick in.

"Stop right there!" said one of the robocops, pointing his metal finger at Jim as he lowered his vehicle to the ground.

"I'm not moving, guys!" he stated, getting up and throwing his arms in the air.

"This is the sixth time this year that we caught you in this restricted area," the robot said. "We warned you the last time you slipped, but we can't give you anymore mercy. We're taking you to juvenile prison."

No. No! He had forgotten about them mentioning prison! The last time he got caught, they informed him that that was his last chance! Now he was done for! He remembered what they said now, but it was too late. Forget about the Interstellar Academy, he was a legitimate juvenile delinquent now.

The police secured the handcuffs onto Jim's wrists and pulled him onto the solar vehicle. "Hey, hey, hey! It's not like I'm going to run!" Jim groaned, motioning to the ground that was already ten feet below him. "Can we at least loose the handcuffs?"

This was the end. His future had just been destroyed. Time to throw out the suitcase! No more traveling for Jim. His odds of entering the academy were absolute zero. This was the closest he had been to crying since Treasure Planet. Then the thoughts of Silver filled his mind and he made a short mental apology to him. They rose up into the air and headed back towards town where his life would officially be turned around. He looked back behind him and watched as the ruminants of his solar surfer disappeared in the distance.

. . .

"Lum, haven't seen you in a while," said an old human man looking up from his crystal ball. The old man's name was Miska. He was the owner of the shop and a famed fortune teller from the Irmuskan planets. Lumina befriended him by visiting the store numerous times while parked on this planet. She seemed to favor Miska most over the many magicians she met on past planets.

"Miss me?" she asked dully looking through the decks of cards. "Which ones would you recommend for _me? _I'm tired of using oracles, and sadly, I'm losing my touch with cards and need help with your recommendations again._" _She held up a card box with an emperess on it. She hadn't read cards for a long time, for her previous collection had been burned on the last planet they parked on. It took her a while to earn enough money for more cards.

"For _you?"_ he laughed, knowing she had her own way with a deck of cards. "Doesn't your sister have some cards for you or something? Did you get yourself ino trouble again?" He asked with a smile. When she was silent, he remembered why she didn't have her cards. He was confused as to why she needed help identifying the right cards for her when she knows cards like the back of her hand. Nonetheless, Miska dug through the packs of tarots and after a couple seconds, he stopped at a gold and crimson colored tin box. He made a face as if he had forgotten something. There was an eerie pause then he smiled, "Why don't you try this one."

"That looks rather expensive, Miska," she exclaimed examining the crimson tin. There was something creepy about that box, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Maybe it was the gold engravings on the blood colored tin. Lumina had never seen a card box this elegant. She looked at his face and it seemed as if he wanted to say something but kept his mouth a thin line. "Is something wrong?"

"A strange man came by this morning," he started, looking like he was desperately trying to remember something. "He handed me that box and said something odd. . ." He paused, and then he snapped his fingers triumphantly. "Ah! What he said contained your name! I knew it had something to do with you. Everything was in Nomazian, which is a language that I don't speak . . ." He paused again, puzzled. Then he laughed. "Funny that you came by today shortly after-"

"Wait, wait, wait! If you want me to take this one I will," she laughed taking the box. "But actually I don't know if I can afford this one."

"No I'm serious," he stated, popping his pipe in his mouth. "He came by the store this morning."

"Okay, who was this man again? If you aren't pulling my leg, you should be more concerned about this." She chuckled again, still not believing him. "Anyway how much is this?''

"That's yours… you don't have to pay for it."

. . .

Jim sat on the edge of the vehicle and let his legs dangle off the side. If Jim had known all this would happen, he would've never left the inn. He tried to remember what it was that made him crash but trying to remember made his head hurt more. This frustrated Jim and made him hate himself even more. He must've hit his head. Picturing his mother's disappointed face made his stomach turn. Looking up at the sky, he let the wind blow through his hair. It felt good. Jim watched as the gray clouds, symbolizing the sadness he felt inside, continued to quickly roll in. "Go figure," he mumbled.

Jim waited for them to arrive back to the city. He dreaded it, but he also longed for this all to be over with. Crazy thoughts of jail started to fill his mind, and he thought of different situations for where he would end up. Maybe he would have to share a cell with someone violent or disgusting? Or maybe they would only feed him once a week until he starved? Or maybe the jail wouldn't have any showers? The possibilities were endless, and they kept getting worse and worse. Jim tried to assure himself that it wasn't going to be that bad, but he had never been to prison before.

The outskirts of town started to come into view. Jim saw the familiar cliff followed by a narrow road and some run-down cottages. This particular part of town appeared as if it had reached its peak of neglect and looked very depressing, especially with the rain clouds overhead. Jim looked down past his dangling feet and watched as the tall structures passed them. Most of them were starting to sink in the mud from frequent rainfall, which made them tilt. Jim wondered why they made them five stories tall if they were so thin and were located in a rainy environment. It reminded him of purp trees with no roots.

As the town's soul became brighter and the city was getting closer, Jim realized the courtroom was as well. He shivered and groaned in frustration. What was he going to say? Could he lie? No, he'd done that too many times. Jim's heart rate quickened as the vehicle's slowed and lowered to the ground.

. . .

Now she believed him instantly. "What the hell is going on…" she trailed off pinching her nose bridge, taking in what he was telling her, and strangely, she was considering it.

"I told you! A gypsy man wants you to have these!" He closed her hand shut on the box and shoved it at her. "Since he wasn't speaking English, he must have been from the Nomazi region. I don't know about you, but I think you'd better hang on to that deck of cards," He laughed putting his big hand on her shoulder. "Those are important. _Stick _to that deck. But what's more important…" He touched the tip of her nose, "you, Luminitza."

"This is _weird…_" Lumina said desperately. She began pacing the floor. "Are you sure it was me he mentioned? _Me? _As if _I _were some powerful sorcerer? I'm not important!" She gave out a desperate laugh and judging by her wide eyes and pleading smile, Miska thought she was going insane. "I mean, can't you at least tell me who this man was? I need some identification here!" An old gypsy woman started walking into the shop but decided to turn around when she heard yelling.

"Lumina… Calm down! Yes, it's rather curious that a gypsy delivered a pack of tarot cards for you but I think you're overreacting a little. I don't even remember what he looked like, or who he was even. He wore a cloak though; covering his whole body and face."

"Ah, and that just makes it sound so much better, doesn't it!?" She let her animated arms fall to her side and turned around, pacing again. "And how do you even know they are tarots? It could be some kind of dark magic in the form of some fortune cards!" Her wide, insane smile was still plastered on her face and her eye twitched.

"I don't. Why don't you open it?"

"Maybe I will!" On the outside, Lumina showed that she didn't believe there was a need to open the tin; that this was all just a sick joke, but she was actually confused as to why she hadn't opened it already.

She eagerly popped open the lid and sure enough, they were just regular tarot cards. "See? Nothing weird about that right?" she laughed again.

"Read the bottom."

"Huh?" His command caught her off guard. "What do you mean read the bottom?" She laughed again and turned the tin upside-down. "It's in Latin," she stated matter-of-factly. She wouldn't admit it, but she was a little disappointed that she couldn't know what it said.

"Well… Maybe there's something_ inside _the box," he persuaded.

"Uh, yeah, cards!" She shoved the cards in his face frustrated and let them fall to the ground. "This is all a joke! I'm no-" Then she saw it. There was a small, folded piece of paper on the floor with the cards.

"Hmm!" he smiled, raising his eyebrows.

Lumina got down on her hands and knees, moving toward the note. She scooped it up gingerly in her hands as if it would shatter into a million little pieces. They stared at the folded paper for a couple seconds until Lumina got the nerve to open it up. She read the note aloud.

"Proprietante al acestio pachetta, acestele cardari nu sunt pentrulop a fi amesattecato cu. Cu tolate acestea, dacăle sunt folosite corectre, va veti imbarca pe o calatelerie uimitoaremo. Nu attempto să cautele ajutoro, va dau sealama. Odată ce aţico văzut pachetme de cărţi, nu poţi scăpayo. Nu aveţisa posibilitatea de a alegeho dacă doriţimo să joacele aceste joc sau nu. Să cărţi te ghidezeze şi să vă printe lume de magie… Good luck, gypsy," she finished and looked up at Miska, stunned.

. . .

The robocops rolled out of the vehicle, grabbing each of Jim's arms, and hauled him off. They started dragging him through the town in a very unnecessary manner. As they started to get to the middle of town and it became more populated, Jim became humiliated from being dragged by the cops with handcuffs on. "Guys," he pleaded. "I can walk, I won't go anywhere!" A couple villagers glanced at the boy and wondered what he had done. He closed his eyes and his face became beet red – partly from rage and partly from embarrassment. The public began to move out of the way and made a trail to let them pass.

. . .

"What does it mean?" he asked examining the parchment. "Lum… that looks like its over one hundred years old." His wide, dark green eyes looked back at her.

"My Nomazian is no good." She sighed, frustrated. "But it says something about not meddling with the cards and to let them… guide me?"

There was a long pause and his expression suddenly became serious. "I've seen this magic before…" Miska said, getting up. This scared Lumina a little because she heard a hint of solemn in his voice.

"What do you mean?" she pleaded, picking up the cards and putting them back in the tin.

"Nothing, I'm just saying I've read about that very box," he said, pointing to her heart and turning to light his pipe again. Lumina looked down and placed her palm over her violent heart. What did her heart have to do with this? She got up off her knees hesitantly and looked down at the tin in her hands like it was a dangerous insect. She hated seeing Miska like this, with his lively personality gone. He was always the one for metaphors but not like this. It shook her a little.

"What do you mean?" she pressed, letting her hand drop from her chest. "Why can't you just tell me what's going on!"

"That's for _you_ to decide." Then he turned to face her and his expression became sentimental for some reason. He hesitated then spoke. "Luminitza," he forced out his words with hidden pain in his eyes. "Let the cards _carry _you. Do not treat them like normal cards…" He shook his head, giving up on her, but realized showing her his lost hope for her would only make her lose herself faster. Miska placed his hands on Lumina's shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "Be smart. Be strong. When you hit a tough decision, do not go with your instincts. _Read _the card." He paused, squeezing his eyes shut, trying to think of something to say next in a way that wouldn't scare her or make her think he was crazy. But that was hard to do when he was scared himself.

"The _card? _What do you mean? There is a whole deck of _cards _here! Am I just supposed to play with one?" she practically yelled. "Why should I be strong? What the he-"

"Lum… do not _play_ with the cards. You will figure all this out. It's all a _game._ Think of it like that." Who was he kidding? There was no way he could comfort her now. She had no idea what was going on, it happened so fast. "You will be fine. Take things slow…" He looked up, gripping her shoulders harder. "More than anything… keep your friends close." He paused again and tried to think of another way to say this but he knew he could not be a part of this. "Leave, Lumina. Never come back here." He saw the pain in her eyes and she saw his. She opened her mouth to speak but couldn't get out the words. Finally she spoke.

"What's happening to me?" she croaked.

He couldn't tell her what was ahead of her. It wasn't his place to say. It wasn't anyone's place. Still he felt horrible and scared that he couldn't help her at all or at least give her clues. He wasn't supposed to say this but he said it anyway. "Take this to Zuzula," he finished and stared at her in a slightly apologetic way, but she could tell he was terrified about something. His gaze felt like daggers piercing her chest.

Fear filled her body and her heart raced. She felt like she could faint. She felt like she could wake up from a deep sleep and all this would be over. She breathed heavily and stared back at him. Miska lifted his hands heavily and symbolically from her shoulders with hesitance, not losing his gaze with her. Lumina quickly backed up nodding and ran out of the shop heading to the most experienced woman of dark magic in the gypsy clan.

. . .

When they arrived at the main market, it became very hard for the trio to pass. It was very crowded and Jim felt like he could slip out of their grasp without them noticing. If he did that though, the cops would still find him again and he would be in even more trouble than before. He decided to try and walk in sync with the police so he wouldn't get lost in the crowd.

When Jim finally looked up, he noticed a disturbance in the crowd to his right. He tried to look over the aliens heads to get a glimpse of what was going on.

"Watch it!"

"Sorry… 'scuse me… Sorry!" Jim heard a girl's voice in the crowd and realized nothing important was happening until the cops jerked to a stop and yelled, "Gypsy!" while letting go of Jim's arms.


	2. Chapter 2: Escape

Chapter 2: Escape

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey everyone! Thanks for all the reviews! Keep them ****coming! Here's the second chapter, I think it's better than the first. Hope you enjoy the story, and be sure to review!**

* * *

Lumina jerked her head toward the assertion, and her pale pink cheeks de-saturated. The cops had seen her. Just as Lumina was about to think this day couldn't get more interesting, a single, heavy raindrop landed on the tip of her nose as if to say, "Ha! I told you I could make your day worse!" Once she got a hold of herself, she took off running again, putting the tin in her skirt pocket. She quickly looked over her shoulder and saw they already had a boy in their custody. Lumina felt a small portion of relief, but this didn't make her stop running. Her body was filled with so much emotion that she could barely feel any. Lumina had no warmth in her body. She pulled her hat closer around her eyes.

. . .

Jim looked up at the sky and it seemed the clouds were finally ready to burst. "You stay right here. Don't even think about running," the robocop warned, and Jim looked down at his free arms. The police took off after the girl and Jim stood in silence for a couple of seconds. He looked around cautiously at the crowd of aliens surrounding him before slowly slipping away. That was the most stupid thing they had ever done.

. . .

"No… No!" Lumina cried as she dodged past purp carts, barrels, and busy people. This was _not _happening. This was one of the scariest days of her life. Not because police were chasing her or that it started to rain - that happened all the time - but because she was in possession of some cursed tarot cards her mind raced. Just the idea of someone with whom she wasn't acquainted to give _her_ tarot cards put Lumina on edge. Most of all, she was uneasy about Miska's explanation – or, rather, lack thereof. Actually, Miska's refusal to explain coupled with his stern admonition to never return made Lumina more than uneasy – it _terrified _her. Was she really in that much danger?

"Gypsy! Stop!" the robocops yelled as they motored closer toward her. Usually, she wasn't this terrified of the police, but for some reason now she felt like her heart was going to pound out of her chest. She let out a small scream and frantically jerked her body around in an attempt to find somewhere to hide. She couldn't handle being slowed down by the police today.

Everything Miska said flooded her mind, and she couldn't stop thinking about what was happening to her. Now the police were after her for using dark magic from a previous day! If they knew what kind of cards were in her pocket… Lumina didn't allow herself to imagine how bad the consequences would be for she didn't even know how dark the cards were.

Lumina looked down to shield her face from the fat raindrops and almost slipped on the wet stone. She ran as fast as she could, yelling and shoving aliens out of the way. She couldn't go back to camp because if she did, and the police followed, they would know where the gypsies were and her friends and family would be involved. Fortunately, the police didn't bother the gypsies unless they were playing with dark magic or stealing. The unfortunate part was Lumina had done all of the above. Her eyes started watering and she felt as if her head was going to explode.

_. . ._

_Wow a gypsy, _Jim thought as he calmly headed back to the inn. _I hope she's okay… _He laughed to himself at how screwed she was. As he strutted through the crowds, he received the occasional look of recognition. The word was slowly getting around about the boy who discovered Treasure Planet. Jim smiled and nodded humbly at the people who recognized him. Thankfully, he had kept his head down when the cops had him.

The rain started to pour down heavier and umbrellas began to shoot up from the crowds. Jim merged to walk under one of the awnings of the building to avoid getting too wet.

Jim finally escaped the crowds of the market and arrived back at the inn – soaking wet. He heard the sounds of mining taking place in the trench below the inn. He didn't think much of it anymore because he was used to it, but the constant hammering used to annoy him.

Pulling open the doors of the inn caused his mother to turn from one of the tables at which she was serving breakfast. "Jim, honey, finally! I need you to go to Crescentia and pick up your tickets for the academy!"

"Mrs. Hawkins!"

"One second, Mrs. Dunwoody! I'll be right there!"

"Wait, Mom! I just got back from the uh… market!" he saved. "Can't I go back later?" he begged. When he received a frustrated glance from her he groaned in return. "Plus, I thought you had already went out and got them, seeing as the ship departs tomorrow."

"Jim, can't you see I've been extremely busy! Everyone is coming in for the last week of summer! Now, Jim, get to the spaceport now and arrange something at the dock."

He rolled his eyes but relented and headed out again toward the spaceport.

. . .

Lumina was out of breath already. She started stumbling, and the hoards of people began to shift out of her way and gave her worried glances. Giving up would mean going straight to jail, or worse. She screamed again and quickly turned her body around to see how close the police were.

"Lumina!" She slowed when she heard her name, and a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her into an alley away from the rain.

"Simza!" She desperately embraced her friend and realized Sim had disguised her gypsyness by wearing a loose white camisole, and Lumina was in her regular gypsy attire. "You need to hide me! Fast!" They both turned at the sound of the robocops and Simza smiled.

"What are you wearing?" Simza asked, merging in front of Lumina to block her from the sight of the police. She herded her into a corner.

"What do you mean what am I wearing!" she blurted breathlessly. "This is what I always wear!" Lumina knew what she meant, that a green floor length skirt with embroidered designs and many layers of scarves and cloth around her hips made her look like a gypsy thief. "Now, you need to find some place for me to hide!" She looked around and tried to steady her heart rate but heard the cops coming closer.

"They're going to find you if you're so flustered," Sim pointed out. "Just stand here and act normal like there's no reason to throw you in jail." Simza was always on the cops' radar and knew how to get away from them. Lumina sometimes got annoyed about how she always got caught and Sim never did. Sim had definitely committed more crimes than her.

"No, they're going to find me either way! My hair and my clothes are so noticeable!"

"Just shut up."

"Get off of me! Let me find somewhere to hide. We're out in the open! We ca-" With that, Sim pressed her lips to hers while they heard motors rolling past the alley.

"Ew! Sim, ugh! What the he-" Lumina screeched when Simza pulled away.

"You're welcome. I just saved your life."

"What do you mean!? If I ever drown, I'm not letting you do mouth to mouth on me because you're doing it wrong," Lumina exclaimed loudly wiping her mouth off. The rain finally started to pour down full speed and some of the drops even made it into the thin alleyway.

"Lum, shut up."

"Why?"

"The cops are still around. Just because they didn't notice you this time doesn't mean they aren't coming back. Come on, we need to climb up this building."

"You're not serious."

"Yeah, I'm just kidding."

"Okay, good. Now, we need to creep around here and get back to camp." Lumina stated peeking around the corner to make sure the police had motored away. She quickly jerked back into the alley when she saw them just around the corner talking about the boy.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Simza warned with her fingers clutching the cracks in the brick wall. "Come on."

"Wait, I thought you were kidding!" Lumina exclaimed.

"I was. I was kidding about saying I was kidding."

Lumina rolled her eyes but stuck her sharp-toed shoe in one of the wall's depressions and started to climb, getting her clothing dirty from the wet bricks. "This is kind of hard with a big skirt."

"Well, that was stupid wasn't it?" Sim acknowledged. Lumina groaned and wished she were as smart as her. "You need to be prepared for anything. Especially with you, because you're prone to getting caught."

Of course, Sim arrived at the top first and had to pull Lumina up. Lumina brushed herself off and was out of breath. It was easier for Simza who had on pants. Usually, Lumina was a great climber – when she had better clothing.

"We need to take a little detour through Crescentia," Sim explained.

. . .

Jim, once again, shuffled down the lonely, muddy road and turned the corner to get to where he parked his solar surfer. Then he realized that his solar surfer was down in the mining area in the middle of nowhere in pieces. He kicked a rock out of a puddle in annoyance. Why hadn't his mom gone out to get the papers before? The ship left tomorrow! Sure, he had already applied for the school and they pretty much accepted him, but they still hadn't picked up the tickets! Then Jim realized how immaturely he was acting and scolded himself for not picking them up himself. He would have to take a solar ferry.

. . .

"No!" Lumina cried. "There's something I need to go over with Zuzula. We need to get back to camp!" Her big skirt was starting to stick to her legs, which made it hard to reach the next building and Simza's short, large hair began to deflait from the weight of the rain.

"I just have a feeling that we should go to the spaceport. I honestly don't know why I have this feeling, but come on." Lumina watched as Simza's long legs leaped across the building and landed on the next one gracefully, splashing in a puddle. Lumina followed with a sigh and they danced across the rooftops like gazelles did in the Milky Way. Sim warned her to stay close to the center in case the robocops were around, and she obeyed. Finally, they spotted a solar taxi arriving in the distance.

. . .

Jim sat on the bench, and waited as the ferry took its last stop before the spaceport with a jerk. The driver waited for a couple seconds for someone to climb on, but no one was in line. He backed up the ferry and continued heading to Crescentia, closely passing the buildings. Jim wondered why the ferry was so close, for it seemed too close for comfort. Frankly, the driver himself wondered the same thing but continued to coast next to the rooftops.

"Wait!" Sim screamed as she leapt from building to building with Lumina following her closely.

Jim turned his head and saw two girls running across the rooftops. He saw one of the girls wearing colorful attire and immediately recognized her as the gypsy from before.

"Sim, no. We've missed that one, don't try to-" without even an acknowledgment, Simza leaped from the rooftop to the ferry and landed between the passengers like a cat.

"Come on, Lum!" Simza called and waited for the taxi to arrive at Lumina's level. When it did, she hesitantly jumped just in time to land on the solar ferry. The driver growled but didn't kick them out.

Then Lumina saw Jim, and Jim saw Lumina.


	3. Chapter 3: Gut Feelings

Chapter 3: Gut feelings

Lumina wobbled, but managed to stay upright when she landed on the moving vehicle. She sat down on the seat, which was wet from the rain, while Simza paid the driver four drubloons for each of their rides. The alien growled at their unorthodox entrance but accepted the money anyway. Lumina put on a quick exaggerated smile in response to Simza's paying her way. Simza winked in return, and sat on the bench beside her. They were both glad to be shielded from the rain, even if they were already as wet as a human could possibly be.

"Remind me again why we are going to Crescentia?" whispered Lumina.

Sim shrugged and rung out her wet, dark brown hair. "Good question," she clarified. "Just a gut feeling, I guess. I've been having a lot of those today…"

"Like?" Lumina pressed. Now that she thought about it, Lumina realized she had been having a lot of those that day as well; like where to turn, what to say, what to do. It was as if someone invisible had been guiding her throughout her day. Like a whisper. Lumina pushed back these thoughts, and pretended it was coincidence that the both of them had been doing things for no known reason. It was all in her head. But Sim always followed her gut.

Simza laughed a little. "I don't know. I had this feeling earlier to remind Zuzula that gypsies aren't supposed to help posesorilor with their tarot cards. Boy, was that random!"

"Posesorilor?" Lumina asked. What a strange word. Lumina had definitely never heard it before. It sounded Nomazian, so she figured it had something to do with complicated magic. The magical thought triggered an unfortunate memory. She remembered the tin in her pocket and what was held in it. Were Lumina's cards connected to dark magic? Could what Simza was taking about be affiliated with Lumina's cards? Could these gut feelings be from…the cards? No. _It's all in your head, _she thought.

"You know. Blestemat gaura neagra? Holder of the Cursed Black Hole? A posesor?" Sim teased. She wondered why Lumina, of all people, would be uneducated about this certain type of magic.

Lumina's eyes widened and her heart skipped a beat when Simza uttered the name of her cards! Wait, no, she was not referring to _her _cards. Why had Lumina thought that? These weren't magical at all. Miska is full of it! The note was just a prank as well.

She tried to calm her heart down and realized Sim was still talking, and wished she had heard what she said. "… Man, there's no going back after that! Sometimes I actually wish I was asked to become a possessorilor… Ha! No, just kidding." Sim finished, and Lumina realized a boy had been staring at her the whole time. "Well, hi!" Simza greeted.

"You're that gypsy from before, aren't you?" the boy said, still staring at Lumina. He said it in more of an accusing tone rather than questioning.

Lumina gasped loudly, pulling out of her panicked state. "You're the-"

"Yeah, let's keep that down," he said throwing his hand out to shut her up, just in case the family next to him recognized him. He wanted to keep his postitive reputation. "So, the cops are still chasing you, aren't they?" Jim continued, motioning to the taxi.

"Actually, when I hid, they kind of gave up and started looking for you!" Lumina clarified.

"Well, looks like we both got away, didn't we?" said Jim, leaning back and sporting a rather cocky smile on his face. Lumina giggled and looked over at Simza's wide eyes.

"Oh, um…" Lumina paused, trying to think of a way to describe this to Sim.

"I'm Jim," he said, extending a hand to both of them.

"I'm Lumina. This is Sim," she introduced, taking his hand. Jim gave Lumina's hand a firm shake, while Sim smirked and nodded.

"Uh … Nice to meet you, Jim Hawkins," said Simza. Lumina turned and looked at Sim in surprise. Then she looked back at Jim, whose cocky smile had quickly turned to an awkward shameful one. "What were you doing with the police, Mr. Hawkins? Shouldn't you be getting ready for the academy? Wouldn't you want to get rid of that red in your history?" She smiled at his pink face, and Lumina wondered how Sim knew him and why she was speaking to him like this. Were they familiar?

"I'm covered," he grumbled, shaking off the quick glances he got from the family sitting on his left. "The captain of our mission sent a request to the academy, and I'm going to speak to the president about my approval. Besides, how do you know I'm heading off to the Interstellar Academy? And how do you know I have a reputation around the cops?" He said the last part in a hushed voice.

"I get around," she answered simply. Lumina realized that the boy and Simza had never met. Simza knew just about everyone in town. Ever since the two were kids, Sim would always spend her time hiding around in the cities just to people watch. She was really good at remembering names. She had to have good ears as well in order to hear the conversations while on the top of a building. She watched like a cosmohawk and listened to the latest gossip about the villagers. Lumina swore that Sim would know everyone's name by the time their clan was ready to migrate to a different planet, or was sent into exile. Lumina concluded that Jim wasn't famous, Simza was just a stalker. "Everyone knows who you are, _Hawkins,'' said Sim._

_Scratch that,_ Lumina thought…

"Not everyone!" Jim hushed, trying to keep his final days of solitude.

"Guys?" Lumina squeaked, holding up a weak finger to let them know she was still present.

"Hey, Lum, when did _you_ get here?" Simza joked, sharing her gravelly laugh. "We were just discussing how Jim here probably won't make it into the academy with his lack of street smarts!"

"Oo! An academy." Lumina childishly demonstrated her excitement.

"_Interstellar _Academy," Simza corrected, proudly in Jim's favor for she knew Jim could show less emotion than a brick.

"What's that?" Lumina asked.

"Lum has been living under a rock for the past couple years," Sim whispered to Jim in jest, loud enough for Lumina to hear.

"That sounds exciting!" said Lumina, loudly expressing her excitement when she really had no idea what they were discussing.

"Well it obviously isn't a great fit for you," Sim chuckled.

"That depends on what I'd be studying! I'm quite smart!"

"When you go to that school, you're training to be a captain," Simza stated, bluntly, hoping Lumina would take the hint. Lumina couldn't be the captain of a ship to save her life.

Lumina let her animated arms drop back into place in realization.

"Yeah!" Sim harshly patted her back. "Maybe delinquent here can show you how to make the right choices when it comes to being a leader! Oh, Wait!" Sim joked again with a cackle.

"Can someone please tell me what's going on?" Lumina asked innocently, trying not to get in a fight, which was easy with Simza.

"I'm not a delinquent," Jim declared, scowling. He knew he kind of was, but he was determined to change that. He _was_ a delinquent. _Before _he went off to the academy…

Sim made a face, and extended her arm towards the police on the quickly vanishing planet, Montressor.

"I'm not," he repeated. "Perhaps I was… but I'm not anymore," He stated, determined. "I made a mistake this morning, and the cops happened to see me. I wasn't even planning to go out, crash, get my surfer destroyed, and wait for the police to take me home. I waited for them to find me. I knew what I did was wrong."

"You probably were stranded, and had no way else to get back to your worried mother." Sim accused.

This was true. _She is smart,_ Jim thought. "Stop! I'm not! Don't you get it? I don't even remember what happened because I hit my head! Haven't you ever made a mistake in your life? A mistake that could never really be fixed? Do you know how hard that memory is to deal with? I can't even go out of the house without my mother questioning me! But I'm not like that anymore. I swear! That will be the last time I will be seen with the police. I know what I've done in the past was wrong, and stupid, but I'm working on erasing the red and replacing it with green." He turned his head, noticing some curious aliens. "Now, if you'll excuse me," He said as the ferry parked on Crescentia.

"The cops are going to arrest you, remember?" Simza smirked again.

Jim stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her. "Were you following me?"

"Oh, shoot," Lumina stated.

"I never said that," Sim explained, but Lumina knew otherwise. This was going to get bad. Simza always did things like that, but the person she was stalking never fond out. Never! The question is, why was she following him of all people? Why was he famous? Simza always had a reason to follow someone, and it usually wasn't for a good reason.

"Uh, you kind of did!" Jim exclaimed, standing in line to exit the ferry.

"Guys, let's just drop this and do…" Lumina didn't know what it was that Sim had in mind to do. "and do whatever it was that we were doing," she pleaded lamely.

"Stop following me," said Jim, sternly. "Why would you even want to follow me in the first place?"

"I have my reasons."

"Why do you follow people, Sim?" Lumina whispered, but knew now was not the time.

"I'm a gypsy, Jim. We all have our quarks, and reasons why we do certain things. It's not just you I follow. I follow everyone."

By now, the line was stating to merge forward. "You guys are so…" Jim started. He threw his hands in the air in defeat. "You have problems." He turned and stomped out of the ferry.

Sim beamed, and jumped out of her seat. "No. You are not following him. You are telling me what the heck you were planning, and what you were doing this morning," Lumina commanded.

"Lumina, it's not that weird. Remember when I told you earlier that I had a feeling to follow this guy? Well that guy was Jim."

"You never told me that," she retorted, standing up and handing Simza her knapsack.

"Were you daydreaming again?"

"Yes…"

"Do I need to repeat my list of gut feelings?"

"No."

"Whatever," Simza replied. They were the last ones to step out into the sunlight of Crescentia, and Sim spotted Jim trying to make a quick getaway. "Come on," she grabbed Lumina's small arm and pulled her forward in Jim's direction.

"Sim!" she yelled.

"This is getting good. I'm not losing this guy," Simza retorted. "I'll keep my distance though." They ran through the spaceport as Simza's rubbery boots squeaked from the rain on Montressor. Lumina kept a blank expression on her face from confusion.

"Hold it! Sim! Why are you so desperate to know what this guy is up to? This is the most excited I've ever seen you about someone's personal life! You usually just leave them alone when they go out of your sight!" If Lumina didn't know any better, she would've thought Sim had a crush on this boy. But Sim doesn't have crushes, so that was out of the question. "You're insane!" Simza ran her into a barrel, not paying attention that she still had Lumina's arm. Lumina yelled at Sim, and then heard the suspenseful sound of clanking metal on the cement…

They both turned, and to Lumina's horrification, the cards were scattered all over the floor. "Shoot, no!" Lumina frantically dropped to the ground and gathered the cards, despite the aliens practically stepping on her. Her heart raced, and she felt a strange sensation running through her cold, little body that she couldn't fully describe. She gathered the cards in groups in order to save time. Once they all were gathered, she realized Simza had been having a seizure or something. Lumina clamped the top shut, and waved her hand in front of Sim's face to wake her from her trance. "You alright? Come on, let's go. Oh, Mother of-" Lumina dropped her cards again, without a real reason this time. She rolled her eyes, and knelt down to pick them up. When Lumina lifted her head, she saw Sim reading the suspicious note within the box. Sim examined the cards with wide eyes as if she were searching for some kind of sign. She found it.

"Pay attention, Lum," Sim murmered, and picked up the only card that was facing up with a blank, horrified expression. She looked at it and showed the empress card to her friend. "We're doing the right thing…Lumina," She paused in disbelief, but also in understanding of why she was acting strange. "Lumina, you're the possessorilor."

* * *

EEEEEE! Finally! *happy dance* If you have any questions, let me know, and be sure to let me know what you think! Please keep the reviews coming, they're wonderful!

Anyway, I'll see you next chapter!

-Harmony


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